Historical Fiction Book Club Response by Mona Goodman

Lizzie C-The war that saved my life

2017-05-24 19:30:02 UTC

A struggle that Ada is making is that she keeps having moments in her life when she thinks about her mom and all the things that her mom has said to her, when ever someone says something nice Ada always reacts by thinking about what her mom has said because she has always been mean to Ada and dosent believe she will ever be loved or wanted. Something that I found was surprising was when the officer looked at Ada's foot and then looked at her like she was dumb because of her foot or something.

Million Shades of Gray || Jacob Dusansky

2017-05-24 19:31:27 UTC

This story A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata is about a twelve year old boy named Y’Tin. Y’tin is very original and I feel he likes only be with him and the elephant. The place that the boy is living in is in Vietnam. Y’Tin is in a little, poor village. Throughout what we are reading through I stop and think about the date of the story. After reading I research the date. Google says that the date was very close to the war. The war is called the Vietnam War. I question I have is if the troops come into Vietnam how would Y’Tin and his family including the elephant be safe?

Adin Kersh-Bicycle Spy

2017-05-24 19:44:59 UTC

bicycle spy is a book about a boy named Marcel who loves biking and is obsessed with the Tour de France. One of the struggles he is facing is not being able to race in it because it his passion in times of war. This probably motivates Marcel to try harder because of the fact that a war is trying to silence him and he is being brought down. His passion is probably impacted by the time period a lot because of the fact that France is getting bombed and there is not many things you can do during a war and he is persevering and trying harder so he can show the Nazis that they can't control him. Also one lesson that the reader can learn from Marcel is that you should try hard even when you are being pushed down.

Rachel Monaco- The war that saved my life

2017-05-24 19:49:51 UTC

I think Ada feels sad when sad, defeated and disappointed when the doctor told her she would never have a normal foot. After a while she had to accept that but it stuck with her that she would be different her whole life. Her old mom always treated her badly because of her foot. She would not let her go outside or make friends, instead she had to wait on her mom. Now all those memories will trigger emotions that make her upset and sad.

I also think that Jamie wants to help Ada but some things he can’t do like fix her foot. Ada appreciates the help Jamie gives her, she would not be where she was now without him. When they were back in England without Jamie Ada wouldn’t of eaten because the mom never gave Ada food. She was grateful for Jamie and what he has done for her.

Nikolet Vataj- The war that saved my life

2017-05-24 20:03:11 UTC

One thing that I found shocking is that the officers actually trust Ada to know if the man was a spy or not. I think that by doing this, the officers are not taking much consideration into this. Not because Ada is untrustworthy, but because Ada could have been a spy, acting all innocent, just so she can go tell everything to Germany. If this was true, then the officers would've been really careless with their decision. But thankfully, Ada is not a spy. This is shown on page 281, when Ada responds, "Lose lips sink ships." This assure the Officers that Ada can be trusted. One thing that this reminds me of, is when Ada tells Ms. Smith something, and she responds, "I don't believe you." This shows that earlier in the book, Ada was not trusted. But, when the officers believe Ada, something is different. Ada is finally being trusted with things, unlike before. I think this is the part of the story when Characters have change of heart, and start both, one, becoming closer, and two, start finding out things about each other that was not obvious before. I think that now, Ms. Smith will open up, and they will become closer then earlier.

Arianna Garcia

2017-05-24 20:05:48 UTC

A struggle that the characters face is slavery. They were trying not to get her brother Jesse sold. Since Sarah's mom already passed away, what would she do without her brother? One problem I saw with Jesse was that he didn't want to be sold but he also didn't want to leave his life behind so they brought Ranger in the boat. I noticed that the guy came back and he told Ranger that he was a worthless mutt. They got to the place and it was dark, no lanterns. Jesse didn't like that there was nowhere to go so he got angry and ran away. Ranger is trying to find him by his scent. Jesse fell off a tree branch and was about to be eaten by wolves but Ranger got him away from them. Sarah knew that the north star had to stay on your left if you are going east. They wanted to go to Pennsylvania to have freedom.

Lucas Canter- Boy at War

canterl241 — 2017-05-24 20:09:55 UTC

Adam a boy who is living near Honolulu, has been living a good life, his dad is a Navy lieutenant. One Day, Adam see explosions, Japan is attacking one of the U.S Naval Bases. Adam wonders if his father's still alive. In this story Adam's dad shows courage and Bravery to fight for his country. Adam is curious of what happened to his father. The Bombing of Pearl Harbor came a surprise to Adam and is Dad, sometimes you have to be prepared for situations you don't expect. Do you think Adam's dad is safe.

A Million Shades of Grey /||\ Ben

levyb241 — 2017-05-24 20:28:26 UTC

One of my ideas is, that Y'Ting, is very brave and motivated. I think this because, Y'Ting really wanted to go on the "special" mission, and brave because, he didn't wimp out once he got permission to go along. I think that it is very important that Y'Ting is very brave, because, for one, it will really help him later on in life, and it will help to build confidence in himself. I think a lessen that Y'Ting learned is that, braveness will always get you far in life. One struggle that I think he has is, that he has a little bit of guilt, this was caused when Y'Tin made everyone wait for him to finish counting tracks.... and Ama's friend got shot because they were there too long.

Another idea of mine is, that Y'Ting's father will make him go far. I think this because, his father is letting him go on this "special" mission. Going on special missions is an amazing experience, but is sometimes dangerous. I think that his dad believes in adventure, and thinks it is an important part to life. I think that Ama, learned that, adventure is key, to having an interesting, and full life.

Learn about Vietnamese tribes:

Jon-boy at war

2017-05-24 20:42:13 UTC

Adam is a boy who lives near Honolulu and is knew at the high school and he is a navy lieutenant. The teacher is asking if he had a hometown but he didn't he had grown up in the military and the military you moved all the time. So he just said he was from Adam Center which was technically not a lie because his grandfather lived there and he visited there. The teacher never heard of that place before so she told him to find it on the map. He was looking but he couldn't find it he said it wasn't on there but he did say it was near one of the great lakes. One day Adam sees explosions Japanese fighter planes attacking the U.S naval Base. Adam was nervous if his father was still alive. Is Adams father still alive?

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Connor Boekel- Bicycle Spy

2017-05-24 20:56:04 UTC

Marcel is a kid that loves biking. Every time Tour De France is on he'd watch. Ever since Germany invaded France the race hasn't been on. Marcel is struggling about this because he loves biking and wants to bike in Tour De France. Marcel doesn't know if Tour De France will ever happen again.
A good theme for this story is you don't have to quit loving things just because of what is happening around. And also if someone is mean to you doesn't mean to be mean back. There is never a bad time to be polite. Finally if you are in bad times doesn't mean your life has to be a bad thing. You can still have fun and enjoy life.

http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/ww2/section2.rhtml

Theo Skriloff - Bicycle Spy

2017-05-24 20:57:31 UTC

I think that Marcel's parents were very clever about making Marcel think that he was just delivering bread because you could tell that a secret was much harder to keep when you actually knew the secret.
One Idea I have about Marcel's social life is that he is very strong and competitive but he is still picked on just because of his physical appearance
Another Idea I have about Marcel's social life is that he has a crush on Delphine but he wants to play it cool. When he hears Delphine's story about what happened to her favorite place in the world I think it motivated Marcel to stop the Germans Occupation.

Brian

2017-05-24 21:07:46 UTC

Adom has been living a good life in honolulu, and with his dad in the navy. One day Adom sees explodeshions coming from pearl harbor them he shortly finds out that japan is attacking pearl harbor. Adom is scared and he wonders if his dad is still alive. In the story Atoms dad showed braver because he fought for the country. Adom was scared because he did not know if his dad still alive.

Kiley Blackmar II Ranger In Time- Long Road To Freedom

2017-05-24 21:10:16 UTC

One struggle that Sarah faces is that her and her brother are slaves. Another struggle for Sarah is that her brother Jesse might get sold to another slave owner so they are trying to run away. Without Jesse, Sarah would be all alone because they don´t have their parents anymore to look after them so it would be really mean to sell Jesse because that's all Sarah had.

Marco Kaehr

2017-05-24 21:31:30 UTC

Boy at war is about a kid named Adam. His dad is in the army. Adam lives in Honolulu. He is living a good life. Later out of nowhere he see's bomb's exploding. He worries about his dad. He is wondering if he is alive. Having a dd in the army in Pearl Harbor while it's happening is very scary. Adam has many struggles because his dad could die or get really injured. The time period adds to the struggles because, In Pearl Harbor many people died and you could or your family members could. Also having bombs dropped is scary and you don't have much protection.

Eliza Zeltner

2017-05-24 23:04:01 UTC

One struggle for Y'tin is that the elephant (Lady is her name) won't listen to him. For example, Y'tin kept yelling "Muk!" but Lady wouldn't listen to him. Then when Tomas yells "Muk!" Lady listens. I think this is impacted by the time period because they didn't have as modern of training that we have in the zoos we visit. I know this was only 1973 and some of our parents might've been alive but everything was not too modern, especially in a place like South Vietnam.
Another struggle Y'tin's dad is facing is the fact it takes him awhile to make decisions. For example, it took him two years to decide to let Y'tin be with the elephants. I think this was impacted by the time period because back then especially in a war, your decisions could lead onto further decisions, and really impact something or someone else's life. It may not seem like such a big decision to let your son be with elephants but back then it was probably huge. I agree a bit with Y'tin's dad and how he was indecisive because elephants can get a bit viscous and dangerous. For instance, when we take a family visit to the zoo their is a special spot for the elephants with gates around it. But now they do not have fences or a certain spot for Lady to live.

Lila

2017-05-24 23:16:13 UTC

I think that Y'Tin is very brave and, confident and motivated. You see this in the story when it is okay for Y'Tin to go with his father as a tracker on a secret mission. Before he is allowed, he kept asking his father if he could go, and was not scared to do it. And when it was okay, he didn't chicken and was actually pretty helpful on the mission. This will take him far in life and it also teaches him a valuable lesson. A struggle that Y'Tin, his father, and the rest of the group have is that one of their fellow soldiers and villagers died in a shootout, and Y'Tin feels responsible for it because if they hadn't stayed behind so he could count out the soldiers himself, then they wouldn't of had the shootout and he wouldn't have died.
Another idea I had is that since they live in the time period that they do, they have villages, elephants and farms, while we have, towns/cities, dogs and cats, and back and front yards. One of his problems relate to the time period. His problem is that Lady, the elephant that he will train someday, will not listen to him.

Jack

2017-05-24 23:49:45 UTC

I think that the time period adds to the struggles Marcel has. One idea I have about this is that Marcel wants to participate and win the Tour De France, that is his struggle. The time period adds to this because of the Nazi invasion of France, the Tour De France has been canceled. So he can't race. Also the time period adds to this because the Nazi and French authorities make it harder to cycle freely in town. Also there are many soldiers in Marcel's town, both Nazi and French, that make the village more intense on a daily day bases. Also, the time period adds to his problem in another way, because the Tour De France is canceled, many people don't talk about it. And because the Tour De France is so popular, it's cancellation hurts people psychologically. Also the time period are affecting Marcell's parents struggles, his mom has changed because she used to be nice, and now she was stern. And her dad changed because of the soldiers occupying the town. So in this book, Marcell's parents and him are affected by the time period.

Ariana Chace-Ranger in Time- A long Road to Freedom

2017-05-25 00:39:04 UTC

In the story Sarah is facing conflict that blends into historic facts about the time period. For example Sarah got blisters and arm aches from rowing the boat for so long, this problem was cause by the fact that she was trying to run off with Jesse to be free. Which is a historic event, along the time of slavery many slaves would do whatever it took to gain their freedom. Another struggle that Jesse is facing is that he ran away from Sarah and now he is near a pack of wolves and he is hungry and Sarah has the food with her, so Jesse regrets running away from Sarah.
https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/slaves-who-
gained-freedom

Kiley Blackmar II Ranger In Time- Long Road To Freedom

2017-05-25 00:41:28 UTC

One of the main characters named Sarah, struggle is slavery. Another one is that a character named Jesse is about to be sold to another slave owner. Sarah and Jesse are brother and sister and Jesse being taken away would be so sad for Sarah because Sarah loves her brother so much so it would be so hard to not have anyone left because her parents are gone and all she has left is her brother.

Bicycle Spy

2017-05-25 00:55:04 UTC

Marcel Is a Boy that loves biking and he is very passionate and hard working when it comes to biking even though he doesn't get to race in Tour De France he is very hard working and he keeps trying to. He can't Race because the war is making it much harder for him
The makes it much harder for mainly because the French are in the town which is hard but it makes it even harder because the Nazi are in the town also it makes him struggle much more with his cycling. But he is persistent and hard working.

Austin

2017-05-25 01:10:58 UTC

Adam is a little boy who lives near honolulu he lives a pretty normal life his dad is in the navy. One day he sees and hears bombs exploding and he realizes Japan is attacking Pearl Harbor Hawaii Adam doesn't know what to think but the first thing that comes to his head is WAS HIS DAD STILL ALIVE? He couldn't bare the pressure and sadness he was so scared for his dad.

Ruby Smalheiser-A Ranger In Time- A Long Road to Freedom

2017-05-25 01:48:32 UTC

Jesse is having a hard time, a little bit more than a hard time because he's a slave in the time period of the book. If he were in current times he would be living his normal life. Ranger has time traveled into a past time where slavery is the acceptable. Medicine is better in the time period that Ranger is from so he brings that to help. The themes I see are about love and sadness and family. Jesse and Sarah try to hide so Jesse doesn't get sold.

Jacobś Link

2017-05-25 14:13:15 UTC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

Bens Review

levyb241 — 2017-05-25 14:14:42 UTC

I agree with Lila about how motivated Y´Tin is because he was really motivated to go on the special mission. I also thought that him being motivated was very important. I really thought that it was great that Lila really gave a nice amount of evidence to support her ideas, which is very important to have because, then, your ideas really make a lot of sense.

I disagree with Jacobs response because, it didnt show anything.

I agree with myself.... because why wouldnt I agree with myself?

I thought it was interesting that Eliza did ideas that I didnt think of. But, I still agreed with her, because those struggles/ideas really made sense and fit in with the story. I really thought that its interesting that Eliza incorporated her real life experience at a zoo, and really made it fit into her response, so it made a lot of sense.

Response || Jacob

2017-05-25 14:14:48 UTC

I agree with Ben because when he said that his father wants Y'Tin to go far and have a big adventure. This makes me think that Y´Tinś father really makes Y´Tinś life more ease and lets Y'Tin enjoy the good stuff in life.

Kiley Blackmar || Respond

2017-05-25 14:14:49 UTC

Ruby-
I thought you didn't really describe the main problem that is happening in the book. I know this because you mostly just explained what the book was about and also how it's hard for Jesse to live as a slave when there was many other problem in the story.

Connor Boekel

2017-05-25 14:15:05 UTC

I agree with Jack because Marcel really wants to bike in Tour De France but can't because the Germans have invaded France and the race has not been on lately. Everytime Marcel is biking for speed to practice for Tour De France he gets stopped by one of the French soldiers that are on Patrol. I thought it was interesting when Marcel had passed by the guard three times and the second time he gave him a treat. So on the third time the Guard was very nice that he just allowed Marcel o go by without stopping.
I agree with everyone in my group because everyone stated that Tour De France was cancelled and how that put many struggles on Marcel and on everyone in his town.

Ariana Chace- response to Ruby's passage

2017-05-25 14:15:08 UTC

I agree with what Ruby said about the themes this is because is in the story when Jesse ran away from Sarah noticed he needed her this brings us into the theme of family which Ruby stated. It was interesting how Ruby decided to bring up how different Jesse's life would be in a time that wasn't in slavery, this gave me much to think of such as would he miss his work and would he be happy, I think he would because by him trying to escape he must really want to be free.

Austin

2017-05-25 14:15:26 UTC

I agree with the whole group because we all wrote the same general idea but I think everyone's was different in a unique way. I wonder what will happen next in the book and will it be such a general idea like the past 30 pages were everyone writes the same idea because its so clear in the book. I thought Jon's picture was so interesting and detailed because it was a closeup photo of what really happened and ow devastating it really was when this happened. I think the boys dad might get hurt at war and he's going to realize in such a hard way.

Eliza

2017-05-25 14:15:38 UTC

I agree that Y'tin is very brave and motivated. I also agree that his father believes in adventure. I agree with this because Y'tin wants to go on the special mission but doesn't know what's yet to come. I also think Y'tin is being brave by being an elephant keeper. The reason I think he is brave by doing this is because, elephants can be dangerous.
I thought it was interesting when Y'tin asked his father if he could go on the special mission and he answered "yes" immediately. The reason I thought it was interesting is because earlier in the story it said it took his father a long time to make decisions, and he was indecisive. So this makes it seem like his father is definite about his decision.

Lila's Response

2017-05-25 14:15:40 UTC

I agree with Ben's post about how Y'Tin is very brave and motivated because in the story, there is a lot of evidence that supports it like how Y'Tin didn't wimp out on the mission or that he was determined to train Lady and get her to listen to him. This gave me an idea about how the children from our time period are different than the children and earlier time periods. Since they didn't have technology or anything, they often had to work harder like on farms or in the army when the was a war. Wit h all of these things to do, it was obvious that the children needed to help out, so they were tougher. but in our time period, there is technology and things that help us thrive and we don't need as much physical work than we did back then. Don't get me wrong, we do need a lot of physical work, but they needed more.
I also agree with Eliza about Y'Tin's problems with Lady. I wrote something similar and I also showed how it related to the time period. I thought it was interesting how she related all of the actions, decisions, and time periods to the war.
I don't really understand Jacob's because it was mainly just a summary.

Theo Skriloff

2017-05-25 14:15:47 UTC

I agree with Jack's Idea about the cancelation of the tour de france affecting peoples psychology because fun races like that give people happy times even in times of sorrow.
I also strongly agree with Connors themes to the story because he found themes that fit into the story like the last piece of a puzzle
The one thing that I think the group could have included more of is how his social life with his friends and delphine effects his emotions and feelings toward the current situation.

Brian

2017-05-25 14:15:57 UTC

I agree with everyone because we all had the same Idea about the book. I agree because we all had the same idea about how Adam is wondering if his dad is still alive from the bombings.Also about the trouble he was having in school.

Lucas Canter

2017-05-25 14:15:58 UTC

I agree and disagree with the group. I agree with the fact that Adam is wondering if his dad is still alive. I disagree with the fact that he didn't know for a while what was happening. I disagree because obviously he knew right away, it was a big thing at the time and he lives nearby so he could see the explosion, he could also see the planes and know it is Japan that is attacking one of the U.S Naval Bases. I think Adam's reaction to the explosion was surprised because he did not expect bombs to be dropped on Pearl Harbor on a Calm and Peaceful day.

Jack Zipper

2017-05-25 14:16:01 UTC

I agree with my group that the Nazi invasion of France did hurt Marcells dreams to win the Tour De France since the Tour De France was canceled. I do agree with Adin in particular because the Tour De France does motivate him to try to bike harder and build up stamina because the war is silence him. I also agree with John's and Theos because they both say that he is passionate about his cycling and works very hard to keep it that way. I also agree with Connors because he is struggling because the Tour De France isn't on and he wants to bike in it. I wonder why Marcell isn't as aware about the war as he should be, because if he isn't as aware about the war, the horrors war would come as a huge surprise to him, and he wouldn't be prepared to face them.

Arianna Garcia

2017-05-25 14:16:02 UTC

I agree with what Kiley said about Sarah being very sad if her brother was sold because her mom passed from a very bad fever and she only has Jesse as real family. I thought it was interesting that Jesse would run away from his sister, then later be seconds away from being eaten from wolves. I agree with what Ruby said because its a good idea that they hid because he also could have been whipped but he listened to Sarah and got to these houses that were towards the north star so they started walking to Pennsylvania

Jon

2017-05-25 14:16:10 UTC

I agree with everyone in my group because we all had the same general idea that he is wondering if his dad is dead when he heard the bombs.

Nikolet Vataj

2017-05-25 14:16:29 UTC

I agree with Rachel because She is very sad when the doctor told her that she will never have a normal foot. And I also think that she would not be as upset if her mom was nicer to her. If her mom was nicer, she would' ve accepted this. And, she would have just thought that she will have a club foot forever. Not be Different forever.

I also agree with Lizzie, because it is true that she keeps on comparing her mom to people, when someone is nice to her. I think, when she does this, she is thinking about how people who are not even related to her are being nicer, than her own mom is to her.

Review-lizzie

2017-05-25 14:16:48 UTC

I liked how Rachel and Nikolet both talked about how Ada is grateful, but also sad that the doctor said she will never have a normal foot and to her that means she will always be a cripple, and rubbish and no one would ever love her. But something that I found was repeating was that Rachel always talked about how Ada will never have a normal foot, but she also talks about something that has recently happened in the book. To add on to that it was helpful to readers when Nikolet said what page number she read a quote one and that she talks about how people should trust Ada.

Adin Kersh

2017-05-25 14:17:22 UTC

I agree with Jack that the cancellation of the Tour de France has a big effect on the town because it is the main thing to talk about and without it the town is not excited and they are emotionally drained without it.
I also agree with theo's idea that Marcel is a very strong character for with standing bulling and acts like he is not fazed at all by it. I think this is because he already tries to show the nazis they cant control him by riding his bike so he does the same thing with the bulling.

Ruby Smalheiser- Response to Ariana's passage

2017-05-25 14:17:26 UTC

I agree with Ariana because not only did she write important parts of the book but she also wrote with amazing detail and proved every single thing she wrote with evidence.

Review- Rachel

2017-05-25 14:18:04 UTC

I liked how lizzie made a connection with how Ada felt about her mother and what happened when someone complemented her. I like Nikolet's picture because it has to do with what is happening in the book. I also liked Lizzie's video.

Review- Rielle

2017-05-25 14:18:28 UTC

I liked how Rachel was descriptive when she was writing. I also liked what Lizzie,Rachel and Nikolet talked about. One thing that I really liked was the little story picture that Rachel put into the story. I also likes the idea of putting a video. I liked the idea of when you are writing to connect with the characters it helps the reader understand.['

Marco

2017-05-25 14:18:38 UTC

Jon: I think you should talk more about the Pearl Harbor attack. Otherwise it was good.
Lucas: Your's was very good. You gave good examples. I agree with you because having a dad in the army during that is very bad and makes you scared.
Brian: You made some spelling errors but it was still good I could understand it. I agree with you because being in the army is a big risk and that takes courage and bravery to fight for your country.
Austin: Yours was very good. I like the text. I agree with you because having a dad in pearl harbor is very pressuring.

Jon

2017-05-25 14:20:02 UTC

marco i wrote about the trouble he was having in school

Jacob's Response

2017-05-25 14:21:13 UTC

I agree with Lila that Y'Tin is very determined, brave, motivated and mature. When he is put on a "special mission" he probably gets a little less determined and confident.

Ariana Chace's Response to Arianna Garcia's Passage

2017-05-25 14:21:30 UTC

I thought it was interesting that in the end of Ari's passage she included something she learned that blended into the characters journey. This happened in her passage when she talked about the North Star staying on your left this blended into historical facts because this meant they were on a journey, to run away from slavery.

Jon

2017-05-25 14:21:43 UTC

Marco: you should have wrote about how he is new in school or at least mention it

Response- John Chicoine

2017-05-25 14:23:41 UTC

I agree with my whole group because Marcel is a very hardworking kid and he was very angry because he couldn't race in Tour de France.

Jacob's Response

2017-05-25 14:25:51 UTC

I agree with Eliza because when Eliza write's about Lady not listening to Y'Tin I feel Y'Tin feels different and not as special as Tomas.

Ariana Chace's Response to Kiley's Passage

2017-05-25 14:26:54 UTC

In Kiley's passage I agree with her in her thought about how Sarah feels about Jesse being sold, For example it would deffinetly hurt her if she had no brother and no family to work with.

Brian

2017-05-25 14:26:59 UTC

Marco: you should right more about other things than pearl harbor, like something about his new school